Abstract:
Oxy-foitite, □(Fe2+Al2)Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3O, is a new mineral of the tourmaline supergroup. It occurs in high-grade migmatitic gneisses of pelitic composition at the Cooma metamorphic Complex (New South Wales, Australia), in association with muscovite, K-feldspar and quartz. Crystals are black with a vitreous luster, sub-conchoidal fracture and gray streak. Oxy-foitite has a Mohs hardness of ∼7, and has a calculated density of 3.143 g/cm3. In plane-polarized light, oxy-foitite is pleochroic (O= dark brown and E = pale brown), uniaxial negative. Oxy-foitite belongs to the trigonal crystal system, space group R3m, a = 15.9387(3) Å, c = 7.1507(1)Å and V = 1573.20(6)Å3, Z = 3. The crystal structure of oxy-foitite was refined to R1 = 1.48% using 3247 unique reflections from single-crystal X-ray diffraction using MoKα radiation. Crystal-chemical analysis resulted in the empirical structural formula: X(□0.53Na0.45Ca0.01K0.01)Σ1.00Y(Al1.53Fe2+1.16Mg0.22Mn2+0.05Zn0.01Ti4+0.03)Σ3.00Z(Al5.47Fe3+0.14Mg0.39)Σ6.00[(Si5.89Al0.11)Σ6.00O18](BO3)3V(OH)3W[O0.57F0.04(OH)0.39]Σ1.00.
Oxy-foitite belongs to the X-site vacant group of the tourmaline-supergroup minerals, and shows chemical relationships with foitite through the substitution YAl3++WO2-→YFe2++W(OH)1–.

Marco E. Ciriotti

«Things are interesting only in so far as they relate themselves to other things»

Abstract:
Oxy-foitite, □(Fe2+Al2)Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3O, is a new mineral of the tourmaline supergroup. It occurs in high-grade migmatitic gneisses of pelitic composition at the Cooma metamorphic Complex (New South Wales, Australia), in association with muscovite, K-feldspar and quartz. Crystals are black with a vitreous luster, sub-conchoidal fracture and gray streak. Oxy-foitite has a Mohs hardness of ∼7, and has a calculated density of 3.143 g/cm3. In plane-polarized light, oxy-foitite is pleochroic (O= dark brown and E = pale brown), uniaxial negative. Oxy-foitite belongs to the trigonal crystal system, space group R3m, a = 15.9387(3) Å, c = 7.1507(1)Å and V = 1573.20(6)Å3, Z = 3. The crystal structure of oxy-foitite was refined to R1 = 1.48% using 3247 unique reflections from single-crystal X-ray diffraction using MoKα radiation. Crystal-chemical analysis resulted in the empirical structural formula: X(□0.53Na0.45Ca0.01K0.01)Σ1.00Y(Al1.53Fe2+1.16Mg0.22Mn2+0.05Zn0.01Ti4+0.03)Σ3.00Z(Al5.47Fe3+0.14Mg0.39)Σ6.00[(Si5.89Al0.11)Σ6.00O18](BO3)3V(OH)3W[O0.57F0.04(OH)0.39]Σ1.00.
Oxy-foitite belongs to the X-site vacant group of the tourmaline-supergroup minerals, and shows chemical relationships with foitite through the substitution YAl3++WO2-→YFe2++W(OH)1–.

Marco E. Ciriotti

«Things are interesting only in so far as they relate themselves to other things»